Caretaker
by Sigmus
Summary: After a completed mission, Irina passes out due to the extreme heat temperatures of Oblivia and Gwin offers to come to her aid, carrying her over to his place to monitor her illness. As day turns into night, Gwin enters his bed that Irina was resting in, thinking she'd be fine with him sleeping with her, oblivious to the life or death situation that awaits him in the morning.
**NLA**

 **Morning, 9:12 AM**

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Irina Akulov shifted uncomfortably in the bed sheets as her slumber was disrupted by the blaring loud noise coming from the outdoors. It sounded like a team of Outfitters working on Skell maintenance right outside the window. She groaned, eyes slowly opening as they were in a heavy state of drowsiness. Staring at the alarm clock in front of her that displayed the time in bold, red numbers, Irina sighed, realizing that she woke up an hour after the time she starts her early morning routine before tending to her BLADE duties. The blonde only had enough time for stretching and combing out that bedhead of hers before putting her gear on. Not to mention that her head was also throbbing. She could tell that her morning was going to be a slow one.

Irina felt that something was off, though. Everything felt so… peculiar. She took a look around at her surroundings, and that's when sudden realization had hit her.

She was fully awake now, her eyes wide and observant in contrast to what they were just a few seconds ago. Whose bedroom was she in? And whose pair of lean, muscular arms were wrapped tightly around her waist?! The blonde tried to break herself free, but her efforts were useless. All she could do was squirm and wriggle around. Whoever this was, there were going to be in for one hell of a rude awakening. Literally.

Irinia let out an annoyed huff as she ceased her attempts, which caused the man spooning her to slightly groan as a response. "Nngh… Irina…" he muttered, and once she heard his voice, her mind had clicked. She knew that voice anywhere, and it belonged to no one but her subordinate, Gwin.

"What the hell, Gwin?! Let go of me!" she barked, trying her best to pry herself away from his embrace. Gwin's eyes shot open, the loud, thundering sound of his lieutenant's voice made him fear for his life.

"L-Lieutenant! W-W-What's the matter?!" Gwin stammered, and as soon as he loosened his grip, Irina rose from the bed, staring sharp daggers at her subordinate. There were times where she glared at him when he teased her or made a clever remark about something, but unlike those times, the intensity of this particular one made her look genuinely angry, and he would've been downright terrified if it wasn't for her half-naked body. The bed sheets had fell off of Irina when she rose from her laying position in a fit of rage, revealing her to be in nothing but her smallclothes. A blush rose to Gwin's cheeks as he bashfully scratched the back of his head and averted his gaze, not wanting to get caught staring and then a swift slap to the face.

"You know damn well what's the matter, pervert," Irina snarled. The blonde also noticed that she was half-naked, the cool air making her shudder as it came into contact with her bare skin. She blushed, quickly reaching for the bed sheets to cover herself from Gwin's wandering eyes. "And where the _hell_ are my clothes?!"

"O-On the nightstand! And I'm no pervert…" Gwin mumbled.

"...Whatever," Irina sighed. "All I know is that you have ten seconds to explain yourself. You're lucky im even giving you an opportunity."

"Ten seconds?! Come on Lieutenant-"

"Starting now."

"Alright alright, jeez!" Gwin begged his lieutenant for mercy but she ignored his plea. As he hurried to piece his words together, the blonde woman silently counted down how much time her subordinate had left before she struck him. Her eyes were trained onto his in a menacing glare, which made his heart race similar to how it does when he and his team are taking on a tyrant or high level indigen.

"After we finished our mission of escorting the team of Pathfinders around Oblivia, you said you were feeling light-headed and passed out a few minutes later while on our way back to NLA. I volunteered to take you to my place since no one else would." Gwin explained.

"I see… but you still didn't explain why I'm half naked in _your_ bed."

Gwin laughed nervously. "About that… you were still burning up in that armor, so I took it off and put an ice pack on your forehead. I hope that cooled you down a bit. And sorry that I was hugging you like that. I got a bit clingy, i guess…"

Now that she knew the full story, the blonde woman's intense glare had dissipated, the sound of relief apparent in her voice. "Don't worry about it, but otherwise that's good to know. And here I thought you lacked self-restraint."

He couldn't deny that the urge was definitely there, but he knew not to try anything bold, because that'd probably be the end of him.

Gwin blushed. "Come on Irina, you know I wouldn't do such thing. I'm not some sort of degenerate, y'know."

A small smile crept up to Irina's face. She was glad to be proven wrong, otherwise she would've bruised him up badly. A few moments had passed before her head suddenly started to throb again, the pain seeming to have gotten a lot worse. Even the sunlight that shone through the thin curtains of Gwin's bedroom windows was enough to further intensify her headache. Irina clutched her head with both hands and groaned, her subordinate coming to her aid with a concerned look.

"H-Hey! Take it easy, Lieutenant. You probably need more rest, so just lie back down, okay?" He placed a hand on her shoulder and slowly lowered her back down into the bed.

"And you'll be fine on your own" she asked, her voice a lot softer now. The blonde woman tried her best not to aggravate her headache with let alone just her voice. The light that pierced through the curtains was more than enough, she did not want to add onto that.

"Of course. I can handle a few missions alone, no big deal."

Irina smiled at Gwin boasting his self-confidence. She knew that he'd be scared taking on a mission all alone on the dangerous planet that is Mira. She watched as he stood up out of the bed, yawning and stretching his arms out before turning to face her again. He was also half-naked, shirtless and a gray pair of sweatpants covering his lower body.

"So uhh… yeah. I'm gonna go get dressed and head out. Rest well, alright?" As much as he wanted to snuggle up and tend to his lieutenant's illness, he knew there was work to be done, plus he didn't want to miss the opportunity to volunteer work with Elma's team. An interesting bunch, her crew was.

"Hey, Gwin?" Irina called, which stopped her subordinate right in his tracks as he made his way towards the bedroom door.

"What's up?" Gwin asked, all too eager and optimistic to do whatever she tells him. That creeped her out.

"Thanks for taking responsibility to look after me. That was really kind of you."

For once someone thanks him for his good deeds! And that someone being his commanding officer made it all worth it in the end. Gwin was smiling from ear to ear now. "No problem, Lieutenant! Just doing what I can. 'Hope you feel better soon!" And with that, he left the room, closing the door behind him.

Irina turned onto her sides, facing the alarm clock once more. The blonde never thought she'd ever be put in a situation that made her end up in Gwin's bed. She slept with her subordinate, for god's sake. A part of her regrets being so harsh towards the young Interceptor, but she knew that he wouldn't blame her for such a reaction. Gwin had her wrapped up in a protective embrace, spooning her from behind. She couldn't even remember the last time she was held like that. _Was_ there even a last time? As pleasant of a feeling this was, the blonde woman would never admit such thing to Gwin, but greatly appreciates the comforting gesture. Hopefully Gwin'll keep his mouth shut and not go around telling everyone about this incident. She wouldn't mind if Elma wanted to know what happened, though…

Irina winced as she felt the sharp pain in the back of her head return, reminding her that it hasn't gone anywhere and is getting progressively worse. She decided that it would be best for her to get some rest now before it gets to the point where she needs to take medication.

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 **Hey guys, back again with another upload. It's been quite some time, hasn't it? 'Took a long break from writing to focus on college while honing my Smash skills, so I thought it'd be nice to come back with a new fic uploaded for ya. I felt like writing a XCX fic since that's what I've been playing if I wasn't playing Smash. The game's so good, man. I can never get tired of it, not to mention that I'm literal IrinaxGwin trash. Like, Gwin is so innocent, all he wants to do is get stronger so that he can protect and gain Irina's trust, which I'm sure he already has but isn't sure of it. These two are probably the only pairing that I'd ship in this game, so expect more fics of them lol.**

 **As usual, critique, reviews are always appreciated!**


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